Super

39. a work thing

The door creaked when Taeyong opened it while stepping out into the living room, a familiar sound that had ceased to become annoying after many years. He could hear muffled sounds from the television in Jaemin's room—after all, the walls of the apartment were thin indeed—as he shut the door behind him, dragging the duffel bag with him as he walked over to the base of the stairs.

"Jaem?" he called, but there was no answer. Taeyong sighed, then tossed the duffel bag onto the sofa before making his way upstairs. The weak stairs made much the same sound as the door did, and he felt an unusual uneasiness when he heard the creaks under his feet. Surprising, since he had felt none of that fear while facing down real-life supervillains just days before.

His hand rested on the doorknob. "I'm coming in," he called, and heard the boy make a guttural noise of acknowledgement. He pushed the door open, to find Jaemin sprawled on a mostly flattened green bean bag, the sides of his mouth crusted with nacho crumbs as he munched on a mouthful of the same.

The T.V. was on, but it wasn't a channel he had been hearing. Jaemin had connected his laptop to the screen and was replaying what looked like a YouTube video of a news report. Taeyong frowned as he moved closer, kicking a cable out of the way as he did, and took a closer look at the screen. It was showing a view of a very familiar-looking diner that seemed to have been thoroughly trashed, surrounded by police vehicles and yellow tape cordoning off the site to the reporters, one of whom was facing the screen.

"The police reports have reported no casualties so far," the woman onscreen was saying. "As of now, there has been no official explanation regarding the incident, but tapes from a—"

Her voice cut off abruptly as Jaemin muted the video and turned to him. Well, turned was something of an exaggeration, since all he did was lie down flatter against the bean bag and tip his head back so he could look at Taeyong while talking to him. "What?"

With some difficulty, Taeyong tore his eyes away from the screen to look at Jaemin. His bubblegum-pink hair was clearly unbrushed, and pointed in all directions like he had been electrified. Taeyong flattened his lips, shifting his weight to one leg, and placed his hands on his hips as he looked down at the younger boy sternly. "Did you take a bath yet?"

Jaemin blinked. "I was going to."

Taeyong sighed. He didn't appreciate the smell of the room, which exuded the spicy tang of chili sauce and melted cables, but knew well that he didn't have to time to give Jaemin a piece of mind. "Look," he started, then paused. He had been feeling on edge regarding Baekhyun's announcement that they stay in the Tower at all times, and the report about the diner he had helped annihilate hadn't helped his state of mind. "I have to go away for a while. It's a work thing."

A crease appeared between Jaemin's eyebrows, and he sat up, turning around to face his brother. It wasn't unusual for Taeyong to have to leave for work, but most of the time, he was able to give Jaemin at least a couple of days' notice. "Right now?" he asked, visibly confused. "For how long?"

"Could be a week, could be two," Taeyong replied, trying to sound calm about it. "I know this is sudden, but it was a last-minute meeting and it's kind of an emergency, so there's no way I can skip it. You don't have to worry about food or anything—I talked to Jeno's mom, and arranged for you to stay there for a few days until I can get back and—"

"You didn't have to talk to Jeno's mom," Jaemin exclaimed, looking offended. "You could've just let me stay here! I'm seventeen, I'm old enough to look after myself, and I can even go grocery shopping at the 7-eleven two blocks down—"

"It's not about that," Taeyong interrupted him, then hesitated. What was he supposed to tell him? That there could be a band of powerful evil people looking to kidnap him, and that Taeyong was just trying to keep him safe? He took a deep breath, then tried again, this time with more gentleness. "You saw the news," he said. "There's been—bad things happening around this neighborhood, and I just don't want to leave you alone."